ATLTangram Sample: Demonstrates Managing Large Projects That Use ATL, MFC, and COM

Article
11/17/2006

ATLTangram is a port of the Tangram example found in the last chapter of Dale Rogerson's Inside COM (http://mspress.microsoft.com). Many thanks to Dale for doing all the hard work and allowing us to use the code in an ATL sample. This sample will help you convert a legacy COM application to one that uses ATL for its infrastructure.

ATLTangram is a large project consisting of the ATLTangram solution, which is the master controller for seven subprojects: MFCTangram, ATLModel, ATLGdiWorld, ATLGLWorld, ATLModelps, ATLModelExe, and ATLTangramCanvas. The sample demonstrates several features of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and several concepts of COM. The sample also demonstrates using MFC as the client of ATL COM servers.

The ATLTangram attributes sample is the attributed version of this sample.

Building and Running the Sample

To build and run this sample

Open the solution file atltangram.sln.
From the Build menu, click Build Solution.
From the Debug menu, click Start Without Debugging.
Select an option from the requestor, and the Tangram application will begin.

Managing a Large Project

The solution has established all the interdependencies in the IDE. These interdependencies work with the default directory structure for the sample and are path-relative.

The dependency hierarchy looks roughly like this:

MFCTangram
   ATLGLWorld
      ATLGdiWorld
         ATLTangramCanvas
            ATLModel
   ATLModelExe
      ATLModel
   ATLModelps
      ATLModel

All of the project settings are already established for the sample. Follow these steps to examine the project interdependencies.

From the Project menu, click Properties.
Click the Common Properties tab, and select Debug Source Files. Examine the Search these paths for source files edit box.
Click Project Dependencies and examine the dependent project names.

The ATLModel and ATLModelExe projects demonstrate how to set up a COM server so you can build it as either an in-proc server or a local server using the same set of files and two project files. Using two project files allows dependencies to exist on both the DLL and the EXE.

COM/ATL Features

This sample is a COM system that consists of several COM servers and an MFC application that uses the servers. The sample exhibits the intermodule communication through the connection point mechanism and demonstrates local and in-proc servers.

Other Demonstrated Features

The ATL servers use the Standard Template Library for collections.

The MFC driver uses MFC template classes.

The MFC driver, an example of a non-document/view application, uses a class derived from CFrameWnd as the output window for drawing the Tangram pieces.

Classes and Keywords

The sample uses the following ATL classes:

CComObjectRootEx, CComCoClass, CComControl, IDispatchImpl, IProvideClassInfo2Impl, IPersistStreamInitImpl, IPersistStorageImpl, IPersistPropertyBagImpl, IPerPropertyBrowsingImpl, IQuickActivateImpl, IObjectSafetyImpl, IOleControlImpl, IOleObjectImpl, IOleInPlaceActiveObjectImpl, IViewObjectExImpl, IOleInPlaceObjectWindowlessImpl, IDataObjectImpl, ISupportErrorInfo, ISpecifyPropertyPagesImpl, IConnectionPointContainerImpl, IPropertyNotifySinkCP, CDialogImpl

The sample uses the following MFC classes:

CFrameWnd, CTypedPtrList<>, CDialog, CWinApp, and additional supporting classes.

This sample uses the following keywords:

_ASSERTE; AddRef; AddUpdateRect; Advise; assert; ASSERT; ATLTRACE; auxSolidSphere; BEGIN_COM_MAP; BEGIN_CONNECTION_POINT_MAP; BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP; BEGIN_OBJECT_MAP; BitBlt; CATEGORYINFO ; CComCoClass; CComModule::GetClassObject; CComModule::GetLockCount; CComModule::Init; CComModule::RegisterServer; CComModule::Term; CComModule::UnregisterServer; CComObjectRootEx; CExeModule::Init; CExeModule::RegisterClassObjects; CExeModule::RegisterServer; CExeModule::RevokeClassObjects; CExeModule::UnregisterServer; CExeModule::UpdateRegistryFromResource; CFrameWnd::AssertValid; CFrameWnd::Dump; CFrameWnd::PreCreateWindow; ChoosePixelFormat; CModelList; CoCreateInstance; CoInitializeEx; COM_INTERFACE_ENTRY; COM_INTERFACE_ENTRY_AGGREGATE; COM_INTERFACE_ENTRY_IMPL; CONNECTION_POINT_ENTRY; CopyRect; CoTaskMemFree; CProxyIATLTangramModelEvent; CreateCompatibleDC; CreatePalette; CWnd::CreateEx; DECLARE_GET_CONTROLLING_UNKNOWN; DECLARE_MESSAGE_MAP; DECLARE_ONLY_AGGREGATABLE; DECLARE_REGISTRY_RESOURCEID; DeleteObject; DescribePixelFormat; DisableThreadLibraryCalls; DispatchMessage; DoButtonDown; DoModal; END_COM_MAP; END_CONNECTION_POINT_MAP; END_MESSAGE_MAP; END_OBJECT_MAP; EqualRect; ErrorMessage; GdiFlush; GetBoundingRect; GetClientRect; GetCommandLine; GetControllingUnknown; GetDC; GetMessage; GetModuleFileName; GetObject; GetPalette; GetPaletteEntries; GetPixelFormat; GetRotation; GetVertices; glBegin; glClearColor; GLdouble CoCreateInstance; glEnable; glEnd; glFlush; glGetIntegerv; glInitNames; glLightfv; glLightModelfv; glLoadIdentity; glMatrixMode; glNormal3d; glPolygonMode; glPopMatrix; glPopName; glPushMatrix; glPushName; GLRender; glRenderMode; GLResize; glRotated; glSelectBuffer; GLSetup; glTranslated; glTranslatef; gluPerspective; gluPickMatrix; gluUnProject; glVertex2d; glVertex3d; glViewport; HPALETTE; ICatInformation::EnumClassesOfCategories; ICatRegister::QueryInterface; ICatRegister::RegisterCategories; ICatRegister::RegisterClassImplCategories; ICatRegister::UnRegisterCategories; ICatRegister::UnRegisterClassImplCategories; IConnectionPointContainer::FindConnectionPoint; IConnectionPointContainer::Release; IConnectionPointContainerImpl; InitInstance; InvalidateRect; IsCurrent; IsValidAddress; IUnknown::Release; LoadIcon; LoadStandardCursor; LocalFree; MakeCurrent; OBJECT_ENTRY; ON_COMMAND; ON_WM_DESTROY ; OnCancel; OnDestroy; OnInitDialog; OnOK; OnQueryNewPalette; OutputDebugString; OutputGlError; Polygon; PreCreateWindow; PtInRegion; QueryInterface; RealizePalette; Release; ReleaseConnectionPoint; ReleaseDC; Rotate; SelectObject; SelectPalette; SetPixelFormat; SetRectEmpty; specifyMaterial; StringFromCLSID; SubkeyExists; va_end; wcscpy; wglCreateContext; wglGetCurrentContext; wglMakeCurrent

Note Some of the samples, such as this one, have not been modified to reflect the changes in the Visual C++ wizards, libraries, and compiler, but still demonstrate how to complete your desired task.

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